Tonight, tens of thousands of families still facing the dark and the freezing cold and this picture says so much. Pray hard. All day our abc family has been teaming up for a special day of giving for the families who need it more than ever as they brace now for another storm coming in. It is the new worry, a wet and windy nor'easter gathering strength over the gulf right now and expected to march up the coast, and abc's linsey davis as that. Reporter: New york city kids went back to school today. Most big apple subways up and running. And those gas lines, still long, but getting shorter, as the new supply makes its way to the battered storm zone. But in the hard-hit rockaways neighborhood, jane marino is at her breaking point. Give us the services that everybody needs out here. We're desperate. Reporter: After the storm, jane stayed behind with her elderly parents -- the ambulance for her mother couldn't make it through the sand-clogged streets. I've resorted to putting on the gas jets on the stove. Reporter: They are among the 1.4 million people still without power in the wake of hurricane sandy -- 115,000 of them right here in new york city. With temperatures expected to dip below freezing tonight, hypothermia is a real threat especially for the elderly and young children. Sandy's death toll is at 106 people. 40 in new york city alone. And the cold brings fresh fear this evening nypd patrol officers will use loudspeakers to urge people to go where they can be warm. have beds available but some rockaway residents like katie richardson who I first met last week aren't interested. It's our home. It's our home. Would you leave your place and you don't know if they're going to loot? Reporter: The city estimates about 10,000 people in battered buildings and homes will n emergency temporary housing, but for the marinos in the rockaways, the concern is more immediate. They can hardly sleep. Terrified about the nor'easter in the forecast for wednesday. I just pray that everything will be all right. What else can we do? Reporter: Residents here say roughly half of the people on the block are still staying here. Some with generators but many enduring the dark nights without power. One big concern about the nor'easter and there are many is the wind and what it will do to these huge mounds of sand. All this sand here makes the roads virtually impassable.

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